- SEARCH OUR SITE -  ABOUT US - ADVERTISING - SUBSCRIPTION  - CONTACT US - BUSINESS INDEX - PHOTO LIBRARY  - OTHER MAGAZINES -

 

VOL. 11.3

ARCHIVES:

Grand Mansions, Fine Details, Strange History

By Michael Beatty

A walk down Thalang Road in the late afternoon light is a journey into the past. Every few metres you walk beneath arches looming over the sidewalk, and you can imagine you’ve been transported to 18th century Lisbon or Verona. The street has a distinctly European feel to it. But closer inspection will reveal a very different cultural influence. You’ll see Chinese writing above some of the doors - sometimes vivid, as though freshly painted, but more often than not the writing is faded with age and hard to decipher.

A small dog rests on the sill inside the barred window of one house. As you walk toward the window you half expect a warning growl. Instead the animal yawns and regards you with utter indifference. You peer through the curtainless window. In the gloom beyond you make out a huge dining table in the centre of the room. Beyond the table, an altar adorned by smoking joss sticks glows below a dual arch that leads into a small courtyard bathed in the last golden rays of sun. You can just make out a small pond and beyond that a huge, intricately carved chest of drawers standing imperiously on the tiled floor. What lies beyond is shielded by darkness. The house is surrounded by an aura of oriental mystery enfused with a sense of cool tranquillity.

As you turn back to the evening bustle of Thalang Road, you realize you’ve been afforded a glimpse of history. At the turn of the century Thalang Road was the Chinese centre of Phuket. It was here that Chinese merchants plied their trade, haggled over prices and played mah-jong. And when the day’s commerce was concluded they retreated into the sanctity of their houses, prayed to their gods and eventually slept in bedrooms partially cooled by breezes from the obligatory skylight in the middle of the house.

In those days, although their culture was distinctly Chinese, their architecture was a mixture of both European and Chinese styles. Why? The answer is simple. Tin.

Hokkien Chinese immigrants began arriving here more than 200 years ago. Most of them came from Penang, in what is now Malaysia. Theirs was the story of Chinese immigrants all over Asia. Most came from simple village stock and fled their ancestral villages looking for new opportunities abroad. They were hard working and ambitious. In Penang they found work in tin mines were run by Europeans. In the 18th century Sir Francis Light had taken possession of Penang for the British after rejecting the small island of Phuket, which was also rich in tin, because of its inadequate harbour facilities. The decision was evidently a hard one, as he had already married a local Thai girl. (It’s also interesting to note that had he stayed on Phuket, it would undoubtedly have become part of the British Empire.)

But many Chinese either made the trip farther north to Phuket or were recruited from Penang once the Europeans opened up the mines in Phuket. By 1860, it was estimated that 30,000 Chinese were working in the tin business in Phuket. Many were awarded leases themselves and, by 1900, several Chinese families had begun to make their fortunes from tin. Others prospered as merchants, importing goods and artefacts from China and Europe. Huge mansions were built, blending Chinese and European architectural styles. These were Asia’s equivalent of the English stately homes; and they became symbols of influential dynasties that had gained power not through pedigree but money.

These days the styles of architecture that is so much a part of old Penang, Phuket and even Singapore has become known as Sino Portuguese. (The Portuguese were the first Europeans to tade successfully in the region) In fact a more accurate description would be Sino European.

It’s hard to provide a blanket characterisation of this style of architecture but, in general terms, it’s fair to say that while the columns, roofs and walls are European in design, with flamboyant Corinthian, Ionic and Doric embellishments, doors and windows displayed distinctly Chinese characteristics with carved teak louvers and inlaid doors. The merchant’s houses in the family gods. Almost all the houses have alter in a place on. Both mansions and townhouses share other similarities. The centre of the houses is usually open to the elements, allowing the breeze to circulate within. In some cases this has been transformed into a covered skylight that still manages to bring sunlight and a sense of space into an otherwise fairly dark abode. But with the darkness and gloom comes the cool. Inside most Sino-Portuguese houses the air is usually five to ten degrees cooler than the blanket of tropical heat on the outside.

Furnishings tend to be Chinese in origin, the quality dependent on the wealth of the owner. But some magnificent pieces of early Chinese chairs, tables, wardrobes and dressers can still be seen, exquisite carvings transforming them from pieces of furniture into works of art.

The floors are usually tiled in subdued shades of ocre and cream, again the quality and texture dependent on the owner’s financial status. Many of the mansions imported their floor tiles from Europe, and Italian craftsmanship is very much at home on the floors of Phuket’s stately mansions.

To see and appreciate Sino-Portuguese (or Sino-european) architecture is still relatively easy on Phuket. Phuket Town is no huge metropolis, and you can walk the streets with ease. As yet there is no English guide or map to help you pinpoint particular houses of interest, but a recent innobation on the tourist scene is the Old Phuket Tour, which includes a brief look at Phuket’s architectural past as part of the overall tour. Sadly, many old buildings have been bulldozed to make way for 20th-century expansion, but over 149 Sino-Portuguese building were listed by the national Fine Arts Department as being worthy of preservation. The financial pressure involved in preserving them is another matter.

A walk down Thalang Road is a good way to start a private journey into Phuket’s past. With a bit of imagination you can see how once the sidewalks on both sides of the road must have been covered by the front archways of these two-storey dwellings. Some of them still remain, but most have been demolished or cemented in and now serve either as private garages for cars and motorcycles or extensions for a variety of shops. Perhaps, too, the people have changed. There’s a greater demand for individual privacy and less willingness to socialize and live in a communal atmosphere. But, despite the changes, Thalang Road offers a glimpse at the early Chinese middle class.

At the beginning of Thalang, in Talad Jai, look out for one of the more unusual houses that, now rented as a flower shop. All of the houses are long and narrow, but this one is over 60 metres, a good 20 metres longer than the other houses in the district. Above the front door the air vent is surrounded by superb pieces of ornamental Chinese pottery and exquisite figurines. The surrounding mantles are painted with typical Chinese precision. Garden scenes include robed figures and a variety of animals. The overall effect is of an ongoing mural, colourful but without a central theme. Some historians say this flamboyant frontispiece is purely decorative; others say the figures represent different household gods and family spirits. Either way, it stands today as a 100-year-old tribute to Hokkien artistry.

Farther down Thalang Road, another old home has been converted into a Chinese temple. Ironically, it lies only doors away from Soi Romanee, the street that was once known as Prostitute Row. Frequented only by Chinese, the houses reportedly recruited only Chinese women, although this is difficult to substantiate and, in view of trends elsewhere in the world, somewhat unlikely.

On the corner of Dibuk and Yeowarat roads lies a house that also has links with forbidden passions, although here the recipients received no financial rewards. During the war, the Japanese forced Filipinos, Malaysians and Thais into service as “comfort women”. The house itself it more than 90 years old. Doric and Ionic columns grace the lower floors, while the Corinthian style garnishes the second floor. Unfortunately, the outside of this house is now masked by thick skeins of power and telephone lines.

In the center of town two magnificent buildings lie facing each other. One is the former Chartered Bank (now the Nakronluang Thai Bank) and the other the police station.

In the 1870s, fighting broke out between two rival Chinese family gangs. So serious did the fighting become that the government was actually forced out of town. After order was finally restored, many Europeans were nervous and brought in a Western bank to control their assets. As added insurance, the police station was relocated opposite the bank. Both buildings are superb examples of the Sino-Portuguese style, with stately Doric columns dominating their exteriors.

If there’s one name that stands out in Phuket history its that of Governor Kom Sin Bee. A Chinese who initially couldn’t read or write but possessed a powerful personality, he rose by force of sheer hard work to become a major tycoon in the tin trade. Bangkok elevated him to princely levels by allowing him to use the Thai surname of Na Ranong. Real power came when he was awarded the title of Praya Rachada Nu Pradit and was handed the governorship of Phuket. It was under his reign that most major developments and civil works took place.

And it was Kom Sin Bee who persuaded an Italian mining company to build City Hall. The Italians wanted land and the Governor wanted a place for him and his staff to work. The Italian imported an architect from Rome, and the result is a building with features that are in some cases uniquely Italian. The teak columns inside are carved with tulips and flowers in vases, and some history books claim there are 99 windows and one door. Others claim there are 100 doors and no windows. It may depend on whether you class the “French windows” as doors or windows. History also claims that this was the first concrete structure in Thailand.

In the meantime, enjoy your walk and reflect on Phuket’s rich and turbulent past. A past rich not only in mineral wealth but rich too in cultural diversity and artistry.